U-CF mascot question dominates meeting as controversy expands

There was plenty of work on the agenda
at the March 19 meeting of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board,
but the issue of the Indian mascot of Unionville High School
dominated the evening.

A news crew from a local Fox News
affiliate was set up at the back of the Unionville Elementary School
gym, where the meeting was held. Several residents came to the
meeting to address what they say is an attempt to eliminate the
mascot.

School Board president Victor Dupuis
opened the meeting by reading a statement. “Some of you are here
about the topic of the school mascot,” he said. “A few vocal
antagonists on this issue have flooded our community with false and
derogatory statements regarding our district, our administration, our
faculty and staff, and most imporantly our students, in misleading
social media and news articles. There is no recommendation by the
administration that could potentially remove the Indian mascot. There
is no vote, no debate, no agenda item scheduled by this board. What
is going on is a conversation among a group of high school
students on a variety of topics around inclusion and tolerance. The
topic of the Indian mascot was going to be a subject of their
conversation. Instead, the fake news frenzy – that was particularly
poorly role modeled by adults who want this to be an inflammatory
debate – made it nearly impossible for these students to even
engage in a conversation.

“The administration is taking this as
a learning experience for the students, and is bringing in
facilitators to help them role model to their community on how
certain topics can be handled in a mature manner,” Dupuis said.
“Could this student group potentially make a recommendation that
asks the administration to change our school mascot? Yes they could.
But that recommendation would likely not come forward from the
students until next year. … I encourage everyone to focus their
zeal for action elsewhere.”

Township resident Tom Pancoast objected
to the board's policy that restricts public comment on items not on
the agenda to the end of the meeting. “Fox News is here tonight
about the Indian mascot, but you push us off until the end of the meeting,”
he said. “I called two weeks ago to have mascot put on the agenda
and got the runaround from [school district superintendent] John
Sanville. Since the board has to be here all night, and we don't, why
don't you allow us to speak so that Fox News can leave?”

Dupuis responded, “We're all entitled
to our opinions. Our board policy states that public comments at the
beginning of the meeting pertain to the agenda of the meeting. This
is not on our agenda. It can be added at the end of the meeting.
We're still going to listen and respond. The people don't run the
meeting. The school board runs the meeting. And your time is up.”

During the meeting, the board voted to
approve replacing and upgrading the Unionville High School fiber
optic cable network at a cost of $50,750, as well as the first phase
of upgrading the district's entire network at a cost of $431,000. The
district saved $90,000 by voting to approve the expenditure this
month. The cost will be a 2018-19 budget item.

The board also approved roofing work at
Chadds Ford Elementary at a cost of $297,110, and granted a
construction easement for land along Route 82 near the high school
and middle school as part of a safety improvement project being
pursued by East Marlborough Township. The township is pursuing grant
money to help fund a crosswalk and other improvements on the road.

During a half-hour of public comment
about the mascot issue at the end of the meeting, resident Scott
Cousins referred to the earlier comments by Dupuis, saying, “I do
object to the 'fake news' label. We've tried to take this seriously.
I know there's been some rancor on both sides.”

Cousins referred to an email sent by
Sanville to the community last week that addressed the issue.

“We have supported the groundwork
done by the students interested in the mascot issue,” Sanville
wrote. “Student leadership has plans to further the conversation by
gathering feedback and conducting research. Ultimately their work
will result in a report and presentation that outlines their
findings. This will be a real-life accomplishment on a sensitive
topic. ...We also want to hear the questions and concerns from
community members.

“In UCF, we pride ourselves on
understanding the value of expertise, so we have reached out for some
third-party help. The Chester County Intermediate Unit, the
University of Pennsylvania, and a UHS alumnus who is a current
Stanford University graduate student (whose work focuses on “creating
connections through respectful conversation about issues that
matter”) have all agreed to assist,” Sanville's letter continued.
“These individuals will be working with student leaders to
facilitate discussions among students. … No matter where you stand
on the UHS mascot, you should be able to express your views without
being insulted or bullied -- in person or online.”

Cousins is asking for the formation of
a Citizens Advisory Committee. “What we've heard in the community
is that there's an Identity Council that is exploring the possibility
of a name change. … Some of the names I've been called, well, you
can imagine. 'Stay racist, Unionville.'” he said, quoting a
Facebook comment posted about the controversy. “This isn't about
racism. This is about a fine tradition of Lenni-Lenape Indians who
have been in this area for 10,000 years.”

Ian Quain, the student body president
at Unionville High School, told the board, “This conversation was
started by the students in response to legitimate concerns, and it
ultimately belongs to the students. If you allow this adult
community to form, I fear that some of the student voices will be
silenced. The adults that have come before you have brought their
lawyers, their journalists and their cameras, and they intentionally
or unintentionally want to silence those who are not of the same
opinion as they are. I request that when the board is making a
decision about the formation of this committee, that you consider the
voices of the students and allow them to have a level playing field.”

Returning to the microphone, Pancoast
said that while he respects Sanville, “the reason everybody is
upset is that since Dr. Sanville took charge, the Indian head has
disappered from the gym floors. It used to be on there. Now it's not
part of the logo anymore. It's something you guys are trying to do
without anybody knowing. That's where the problem came in. Now they
want to get rid of the word 'Indian.'”

Dupuis responded, “Who's 'they' that
would like to get rid of the word Indian? Nobody in the
adminsitration or on the board is saying that.”

Sanville added that the decision to
remove the Indian head caricature “goes back 10 years, before I
even worked here.”

Pancoast continued, “Starting this
year, the kids are not allowed to do the 'Chop' song at the games
because it's offensive. Who's coming up with this stuff? Nobody
knows. If there is not a problem with the Indian head, then I move to
have it put back on the gym floors and back in the logo. Who started
this Identity Council? It wasn't a student by himself that started
it. That's the problem – it's all being done on the sly. … The
teachers who sit in the student section of the bleachers during the
basketball games so they don't chant anything offensive – I've seen
that with my own eyes. The last few of my kids who graduated from
Unionville said it's like a prison. The fun is being taken out of
school. It's becoming torture for these kids.”

Having exceeded the mandated 15-minute
time for public comment, Dupuis tried to sum up, saying, “I think
we've pretty much covered this. There's going to be continuing
dialogue. I'll close by posing a rhetorical question. If the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which is a student organization,
wants to talk about specifics related to their faith in a student-led
group, do we form a Citizens Advisory Committee to discuss whether
they should discuss that? No, we don't. If the Math Club wants to
talk about fuzzy math, do we form a Citizens Advisory Committee? No
we don't.

“The Identity Council is simply a
student group. It's not a legislative body, it's not a
decision-making body. They can certainly make recommendations, but
decisions lie with the school board, based on the recommendations of
the administration. We don't have any actions intended in regard to
this issue. I'm puzzled as to why it's perceived that there is some
suspicious activity planned here. There is nothing. This board has no
plans to do anything with this particular subject.”

Cousins stood up to demand that the
school board formally deny his request for a Citizens Advisory
Council, but Dupuis cut him off, saying, “You're out of order. We
did address the request with you in writing today. This meeting is
adjourned.”